Evo and TaskCycle
Niels Malotaux · booklets and coaching
published v1.0.0knowledge reading · systems · 2 min read
Niels has coached me on TaskCycle directly. This reading is what stuck, in my words, not a summary of his material.
- Plan only what fits in the time you actually have, then do all of it.
- Done means done: a task that is 90% finished is not finished.
- Estimate, then compare with what it really took. The difference is where you learn.
The idea
Gilb gave me Evo as a way to deliver: small steps, each one measured. Malotaux brought it down to the scale of a single week. The TaskCycle is that week: decide what you'll do, estimate it, do it completely, and check how the estimates held up before planning the next one.
The discipline is in the planning, not the doing. You plan against the hours you really have, not the hours you wish you had. Whatever doesn't fit isn't "for later this week". It goes back on the list, and you decide consciously what not to do.
How I run it
I work in 90-minute blocks, with 17 blocks a week. Each task is estimated in blocks, and the week is planned only up to capacity. At the end of the week the estimates sit next to the actuals.
| Task | Estimate | Actual | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Write site About page] | 2 | 3 | yes |
| [Image-signing write-up, draft] | 4 | 4 | yes |
| [Knowledge reading: Kasser] | 2 | 1 | yes |
| [Homelab: Proxmox notes] | 3 | n/a | moved |
Illustrative week, in 90-minute blocks. Capacity: 17.
I rebuilt Niels's Evo Task Administrator, originally an MS Access app, as a web tool, so the plan and the actuals live in one place across devices.
Why it works for me
I jump between projects. TaskCycle doesn't fight that; it makes the jumps visible. A week that planned four things and finished two is information, not failure, and the next week's plan gets better because of it.
Where it connects
- Gilb, Competitive Engineering Evo is Gilb's; TaskCycle is Evo at the scale of a week.
- Kasser, The Systems Thinker's Toolbox Look at the week from more than one perspective before planning it.
- Wirth, Systematic Programming Break a task down until each part can be estimated. (draft)
- Minto, The Pyramid Principle State the week's result first, then the tasks under it. (draft)
References
- N. Malotaux, Evolutionary Project Management Methods. [Publisher, year: verify]. [Online]. Available: [URL]
- T. Gilb, Competitive Engineering. Oxford, U.K.: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005.
Ire o? (Blessings (good fortune to you), Yoruba),
Olarotimi
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